Another night, another attack of the obstruction rules. This time it was Wests Tigers captain Robbie Farah who expressed his frustration over the recent interpretations, maintaining defenders were deliberately initiating contact with decoy runners and admitting his team might be better off abandoning second-man plays because of the rules.

Both teams were denied tries at Bluetongue Stadium; the Tigers through fullback Tim Moltzen after centre Chris Lawrence was ruled to have obstructed Sea Eagles skipper Jamie Lyon. Lyon smiled and said: ''That's the rule, isn't it?'', after the match, when asked if he had outsmarted the attacking side.

But Manly were also denied by the same rule; a potential try to halfback Daly Cherry-Evans ruled out in the 68th minute, after Manly's Jamie Buhrer was ruled to have obstructed Tiger Braith Anasta.

''Honestly, it's shit,'' Farah said. ''Players are using it as a cop-out. You've got contact that's not even near the ball, not even affecting the play, and they're ruling obstruction. You've got players in defensive lines just getting hit and straight away putting their hands up, just using it as a cop-out. They're trying to make it a black-and-white rule, but you can't.

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''I thought we were making progress at the start of the year, but now, we seem to be going backwards.''

Asked if defenders were initiating contact, Farah said: ''Bloody oath. You almost can't run second-man plays any more, it's getting that ridiculous. There's always going to be some sort of contact. It's so hard to avoid contact. You've almost got to change the way you play the game now, if that's the way they're going to keep ruling it.''

Tigers coach Mick Potter added: ''Sometimes, I think you're getting guys running into people and falling over, and throwing their hands in the air. It's a tough one to rule.''

Lyon was sheepish when asked about his involvement in Moltzen's effort. ''I fell over, but he ran into me,'' he said.

Farah, meanwhile, was clearly also miffed by being taken off the field in the 32nd minute, part of a plan by Potter, who had brought Masada Iosefa into the squad at the expense of a front-rower, Ava Seumanufagai. But it appeared to backfire. Without the side's backbone, the Sea Eagles scored two tries, both to winger David Williams. Potter said he had always planned to bring Farah off the field. ''The feedback to me was that Robbie was getting tired, so we stuck to the plan,'' he said.

Yet Farah admitted frustration, and suggested he was not fatigued. ''I don't like coming off,'' he said.

While the Tigers have been struggling to find fit front-rowers of late, the Sea Eagles continue to have their own problems in that department. Just 24 hours after Richie Fa'aoso was successful in having his dangerous contact charge downgraded at the judiciary, clearing him to play the Bulldogs next Friday night, the club faces another nervous wait, this time over the impressive Brenton Lawrence, on report for a lifting tackle.